


The Dream of a Lady

by Colletti



Category: Mulan (1998)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Childbirth, F/M, Family, Friendship, Happy Ending, Pregnancy, Romance, Sad with a Happy Ending, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:02:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27576233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colletti/pseuds/Colletti
Summary: On the way to Gui Gong, Shang fell off the cliff, but Mulan still has a task to complete.The story is not over.在前往契骨的途中李翔坠下山崖，可木兰还有任务需要完成。故事并没有结束。
Relationships: Fa Mulan | Hua Mulan/Li Shang (Disney)
Kudos: 9





	1. End or new beginning?

**Author's Note:**

> In Chinese, " The Dream of a Lady" means chūn guī mèng.The title is inspired by a Tang poem: The piles of corpses by the Wuding River are the husbands that their wives miss deeply.  
> " The Dream of a Lady"由汉语“春闺梦”翻译而来，标题灵感出自一句唐诗：“可怜无定河边骨，犹是春闺梦里人！”（kě lián wú dìng hé biān gǔ，yóu shì chūn guī mèng lǐ rén！）。

The boards cracked, the ropes snapped, the rain poured down as if it were a funeral song for the end of life.  
Mulan had brief hallucinations. As the procession began its journey again, she looked back and saw Shang, the brown figure on the white horse,approaching them at a distance. As he drew closer, she could see the matching necklace around his neck.  
She suddenly hit upon the idea that Shang was not dead, that he had fallen behind, and that he would return to the team and join her. The familiar sound of hooves was again in her ear, and he was back.  
Mulan also dreamed about Shang during her rest. In her dreams, He was wet through and water was dripping from him.  
Clearly in via bandits nest in distress to his suppression of the intense fear, told her, the broken bridge the rope under the weight of the both, Shang has obviously from mulan clutching his wrist is not willing to let go of hands and speed to the deep canyons, blink of an eye will be swallowed up by the hope does not see the bottom of the valley, even the bones will find don't come back.  
The shyness in his eyes when he asked her to marry him, the hope that they would put on their elders and their necklaces together, the red in their faces when he and she asked directions or read a map, and apologized to each other and reconciled... The happy, beautiful, sweet memories left in the bottom of my heart a few days ago are all broken into a piece like a pricked soap bubble.  
Lover's death did not let her sink, Mulan at that time has made up her mind, she wants to retain the right to pursue their own happiness, and to complete the task, can not let Shang sacrifice in vain, it must accept the reality.  
Mulan was going to marry the prince of the Gui Gong instead of the princess. Her appearance and her deeds of joining the army for her father became the important weights in the political marriage.  
After finishing the task of intermarriage, whether Mulan will hold the husband that was about to see immediately in the night, the name that Shang is being spoken in her dream however, still be unknown.

When she thrust her sword into the soil, the big raindrops fell on her, freezing.

The king of Gui Gong told her, "I will marry you to my eldest son."  
The voice was loud and solemn, urging her to do what was right in his eyes.  
When Mulan stepped out of the sight of the courtiers, her feet were heavy as if her legs were filled with lead.  
"I'm going out for a little walk, and I'll be back soon, general."  
She murmured to someone who was not in front of her.  
General…  
The nickname she used to call him when she was act like a spoiled child now turned into a sharp knife, rubbing back and forth on her heart.  
Perhaps in the near future, a new tombstone will be added to the ancestral hall of the Li family, with the name of the young general engraved on it  
" I'm sorry, Mulan..." Mushu ran up to her shoulder and wiped her tears down her cheek with his claws. In silence, she held the necklace hanging on her chest with her hand, the arrow on the top of the wooden pole, the firelight flying on the snow mountain, the joy of the survivors, the figure reflected by the helmet, the songs sung in unison when crossing the border, the oath of sunshine and rain, the exhortation when going to Yanmen, the wet map Everything seems to be sealed in the pendant at this moment.  
Another Necklace named "Yin" bears Mulan's yearning and persistence. When the mission comes to a successful end, Mulan will not have a chance to see her friends and family again. She thought it was just a temporary separation, but she didn't think it was a farewell forever. If she had expected such an end, she would have looked at the tree in the garden with many flowers and branches before leaving. Now she is afraid that she will never see again.  
Mulan gently stroked Mushu's head with her finger: "it's time for me to go back and prepare for the wedding."  
Shang, this is the last thing I can do for you…  
This marriage is about the future of the whole country, the security of every region, and the happiness of all people. If she didn't finish the task indicated in the imperial edict, the Huns would soon scorch their homeland.  
Mulan's eyes are full of tears. She will always remember the day when Shang fell into the valley, so as to burn yellow paper for him on his death day.  
When young tender love just took root, it was forced to fade from the mind, gradually leaving only a blank full of scars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am busy with the homework of elective courses and the examination of compulsory courses these days, and I have no time to update and revise the articles until now. Excuse me.  
> 这段时间在忙选修课的作业和必修课的考试，更新缓慢，见谅。


	2. survival

Li Shang coughed violently on the horse's neck. Since his consciousness regained consciousness, his only remaining clothes were wet on the skin, and the cold water pricked his teeth. The cloth he used to tie his hair had been lost in the water, and his long black hair spread out behind him.

Yin and Yang, sunshine and rain, the princess, Qui Gong, the bandits, and Mulan…… These words like a tornado eye, with those familiar pictures, a head to the face.

The children who were watching around them made him feel more nervous. The palms holding the helmet exuded sweat, and every word that had not yet been spoken was like burning charcoal and stuck in his throat. Charming smile outlines the perfect arc in Mulan's mouth. There are tricks that fascinate him in her mischievous blinking eyes.

In the journey, he was almost humiliated by the series of clowns, and her eyes were like fragments of a magic mirror, which magnified his advantages infinitely and narrowed his shortcomings.  
The gradually intensified contradictions, the increasingly fierce quarrels, and the brief but silent glance suddenly become blurred in the memory together with the wood chips falling from the sling bridge. He suddenly felt cold on the horse's back. When he was frustrated, she praised him. When the collapsed snow roared, she tried to rescue him when Shan Yu picked up his collar and was about to stab his chest with a sword. She accepted his offer and agreed to his proposal. Knowing that the damaged cable bridge could not bear the pull of gravity, she still held his hand tightly made his wrist pain. Although they haven't held a wedding yet, she has regarded him as her family.

"Shang——"

Mulan's voice seemed to be pierced with the throat bone, which pierced his heart like a sharp blade.

If it will come true, Shang really hopes that he can have the power to change the situation , even if there are more risks, he also hopes to let Mulan back to his side.  
"Mulan is in Qui Gong."

"I will finish the task..."

There seems to be a voice, through time and space, flying over mountains and rivers, constantly calling, coming from a distant place, whirling in his ears.

Wait.

Maybe it can!  
Shang clenched the rein, and the white horse raised several smoke like dust from the soil, and galloped away in the direction of Qui Gong.

He hoped that they could go through thick and thin together. He wanted to make tea infused into the soft moonlight with her. He hasn't had time to go to the shop to get his customized jadeite hairpin, which was a gift he was going to give Mulan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inspiration for the hairpin comes from a Chinese historical documentary that my teacher showed in class. In the film, some exquisite hairpins were unearthed from the ruins of a handmade workshop. Archaeologists speculate that they were Custom made gifts by a young nobleman for the girl he loves .The time recorded in the documentary is hundreds of years earlier than that of Mulan.  
> 发簪的灵感来源于老师在课上播放的纪录片，影片中一家手工作坊的遗址出土了许多精致的骨簪，考古学家猜测那是一位年轻贵族为他的情人定制的礼物。影片记录的年代比木兰生活的时代早了几百年。


	3. unbelievable

The marriage between China and Qui Gong is like a wisp of smoke in the wind. It is said that the bride is a powerful female general.

Mulan no longer reached out to rub her tears in her eyes, so as not to dye her delicate makeup. Mushu picked up the cheek Mulan had patted with his paws, and the ears of the red dragon, who had been unable to be quiet for a moment, fell down. His voice had become mute and obscure: "Mulan, I would give up a thousand pedestals if I could stop this."

"Looks like we won’t be a team after all, Mushu." Mulan sat up from the chair and gently removed his paws from his face. She walked slowly to the door, where there were endless dots of head and coarse cloth. Mulan took a deep breath and waited for the air to flow from her trachea to her lungs. Then, her ankle length dress rustled on the ground and walked down the long stone steps.  
She must finish the task that the emperor told her.

She's going to marry the prince of Qui Gong.

Li Shang clearly sensed the temperature of the white horse. With the steaming heat after excessive exercise, Shang was struggling to speed in the direction of Qui Gong. He didn't care to wipe the sweat from his forehead and cheek. The wedding would be held soon, and there would be more hope if he arrived a minute earlier.

From a distance, Shang has seen the towering Qui Gong palace, the huge Golden Dragon Statue beside the palace, the crowd in the square, and the gorgeous clothes symbolizing the identity of the bride and groom. The left part of his chest fluctuates violently.

Yes!  
After a long time, when Shang and Mulan fought side by side with the Huns for many times, took care of family affairs together, shared rare peace and beauty in a short peace, and told their children about the dart that cut the ribbon in half, the fire from the mouth of the Golden Dragon Statue and the roaring cheers, they still looked at each other and laughed .  
On the way back to the China, Mulan was in tears. Her cocooned hand kept holding Shang's arm and shoulder, and repeatedly touching his chest, in order to confirm his real existence. "Is this true? You are still alive, you are not dead..." She continued this series of movements, from his smooth muscular arms to his solid chest, to his handsome and gentle face smiling at her, and he wiped the tears from her face and the corners of her eyes with his hands over and over again, "it's me, it's really me."

It was late at night, so they decided to find a safe place to spend the night and get up again the next morning. Shang sent Mulan into the tent, stroked her long hair, gave her a kiss on the face, and then turned around: "You can rest assured to sleep, I will keep watch at night."

He just turned around, Mulan's hand pulled the corner of his coat: "Don't leave me."  
"Well?" When Shang turned his head, Mulan grabbed his wrist and dragged it in her own direction. He sat beside her and put a hand around her waist: "what's the matter?"

Mulan put her head on Shang's shoulder and her right hand around his waist: "How did you survive?"  
Shang slowly breathed out, held her closer, and gently rubbed her lips against Mulan's hair: "Humm…… I don't know. Maybe the ancestors thought that my life should not be destroyed. They gave me spirit, made me live, and guided me to Qui Gong to find you. "

Mulan saw the black pendant on his neck at a glance. She held it tightly in her hand. Her eyes were blurred by tears again.

"It's you, Shang. It's really you..." She choked and buried her head deeply in his chest, as if afraid that if she let go, he would disappear in the endless other side. Shang smoothed the broken hair in front of her forehead with his thumb and printed a long kiss on Mulan's forehead: "My love."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas !


	4. Welcome home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now what you see is my revised version, with some additions at the end. But because the history of the northern and Southern Dynasties has not been taken as the focus to explain, my teachers also revealed little to us about the content of ancient Chinese wedding, there may be some mistakes, excuse me.  
>  My computer is not very easy to use. It's slow and stuck. I accidentally lost a little bit when I copied and pasted the original text in the document. I finally found it back.

The familiar architecture reappears in front of them. Mulan walks in front of them and open the door of Fa's house. Shang follows her. Fa Zhou and Fa Li in the courtyard saw them at a glance. Mulan immediately rushed forward to embrace her parents and grandmother. Shang released his hand holding the reins, and his handsome face was full of smile.

"I thought I would never see you again..." Mulan couldn't describe her joy in words. She just nestled closer in her family's arms. Fa Zhou and Fa Li were stunned, patted their daughter on the back, and looked at Shang's thin clothes, which had been worn by the stones and coarse sand at the bottom of the river. Grandma Fa straightened her mind for a long time before she asked: "What happened? "

Mulan did not break free from their arms: "I'll explain to you later."

Shang gave a wry smile: "It's a long story."

The story after that is that Mulan drags Shang and takes him around the house and garden. She excitedly introduces to him:

"This is the room my parents live in. My grandmother lives in the room over there. You've seen the stable when you came here, and my bedroom is in front of you..."

Mulan took his hand like a swallow to fly far away. Shang laughed at her with a drowning smile: "Walk slowly, don't trip."  
"But tomorrow is the wedding. I'll take you to get familiar with it in advance. Don't go into the bridal chamber at that time you're in the wrong place!" Mulan began to look at him. The words just spilled from her mouth stirred their eardrums. The organs on the left side of her chest suddenly beat. Two red clouds immediately rose from her cheeks. "Er That... "

Shang naturally knew what Mulan was thinking. He couldn't help laughing. He put his arm around her and gently rubbed his forehead against her forehead.

Mulan pointed to the front of the blooming magnolia tree: "Shang, the tree is full of flowers." All of a sudden, she frowned. Shang was familiar with this expression. Mulan thought of something she had forgotten. She motioned him to look in the dirice sounded in his ear: "I have another person to introduce to you. He is the patron saint of the Fa family and my most reliable partner. His name is Mushu."

In addition to the villagers of the whole village, Mulan and Shang's comrades in arms in the military camp came to attend the wedding.

"You are so lucky. You went to war and won back a bride!" Ling slapped Shang on the back shoulder and joked.  
"After you two appeared on the battlefield, the Huns did not dare to come near the China any more!" Yao laughed and took a big mouthful of wine from his glass.

"Meeting a girl like Mulan is a blessing you got from your last life. You must treat her well." Chien-Po's voice is as gentle as ever.

On the other side, the princesses are laughing around Mulan.

"Best wishes to you!" Mei rushed up to hold Mulan's neck, Su tilted her head and supported her chin with both hands: "Mulan, those dates are specially given to you by Chien-Po and me."

Ting Ting patted Mei's arm and motioned to her: "don't rub her make-up!" Then, she raised her mouth to Mulan: "After you get married, you will be a virtuous wife. When you have children, you will be a good mother."

The jingle, cheers and laughter of the cups and lanterns gradually became one. At the grand wedding banquet, the children who were full of food slipped down their chairs and chased and frolicked in the courtyard. Several children who wanted to find Mulan or Shang were stopped by their mother, explaining that it was not convenient for the bridegroom and bride to play with them now, and some parents told their children to be polite.  
Shang and Mulan picked up the gourd bottle with a delicate tassel on the table. Their idle hands were tightly clasped. They generally pecked into the cup and then extended their arms around the inside of each other's elbow. The Jiaobei wine at the wedding can be called a good wine, just like a warm current pouring into the throat and into the stomach. After drinking all the wine in the glass, Shang took the wine bottle from Mulan and buckled it with his own wine bottle. He took the ribbon and wound them in circles. From then on, they will share weal and woe.

When all the guests left, it was already night. Fa Li and grandmother Fa told Mulan how to retreat on the wedding night. Their words were like a string of hooks, which made her heart "plop plop". Fa Zhou whispered to Shang the right way to combine him with Mulan. He was as nervous as she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.The homonym of jujube in Chinese can be extended to "early birth of a noble son", so it is given to the bridegroom and bride as a wedding gift.  
>  枣子在汉语中的谐音可引申为“早生贵子”，因此被作为礼物送给新郎和新娘。  
>  2.The wine cup of Jiaobei liquor is made of gourd, which needs to be cut in half. Twining two wine glasses with ribbon means that love between husband and wife will never be separated.  
>  交杯酒的酒杯由葫芦制成，制作时需将葫芦切成两半。用丝带缠绕两个酒杯寓意夫妻恩爱永不分离。  
>  3\. Mulan lived in the northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589 AD). Long ago, ancient Chinese women kept their original surnames after they got married. Fa Mulan will not be renamed Li Mulan.  
>  木兰生活在南北朝（公元420～589年）。很久之前，古代中国女子出嫁后便保留原姓氏。花木兰不会改名为李木兰。


	5. The candle in the bridal chamber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains a lot of adult content, but it has no cohesive effect on the following stories. I don't recommend that minors read this chapter. In addition, if you don't like this, please skip it. Ignoring this chapter will not affect the integrity of the story.  
> 警告：本章含大量露骨描写，但对后面情节无衔接作用。不建议未成年人阅读。另外，不好此道者请跳过本章，忽略它不会影响故事的完整性。

Mulan's family have closed the door for the newlyweds. The candles in the bedroom have been lit. The soft flame on the candle head casts a red light on the newly decorated room. The fragrance of spices diffuses in the air. Mulan has taken off her wedding dress and put on her silk pajamas, which cling to her naked body. Her sharp "plop" and "plop" heartbeat gradually turned into a drum like "plop" and the wine flowing into her stomach at the wedding seemed to burn in her throat.

Familiar footsteps from far to near, Shang from Mulan's back around her, put aside a wisp of black hair in her ear, affectionately rub Mulan's ear with the tip of his nose, and then forced to kiss her burning face, Mulan was stunned by this sudden intimacy, just turned her head on Shang's eyes, his deep love poured out from the black eyes, exhaled heat the air is full of wine.

Shang raised a hand and stroked his wife's hair. From the top of her head to the top of Mulan’s shoulder, she was gentle and affectionate. Mulan put her face closer to him until she touched his lips. Shang just opened his mouth and Mulan's tongue slipped in. The burning saliva called their primitive instinct and mysterious desire.

When their lips separated, Mulan put her head on Shang's shoulder. Her voice was shy and soft: "Shang, thank you for Mushu..."

He was a little stunned, and then stroked Mulan's head again. From the top of her head, he stroked her to her back, which was only separated by a thin layer of clothing. The soft voice stirred her eardrum: "Without the help of Mushu, we can't be married. I want to thank him more."  
With that, Shang put his forehead against Mulan's, stretched out his tongue and licked her lips. She narrowed her eyes happily, let out a murmur from the corner of her mouth, and stretched her arm around her husband's neck. Shang could feel Mulan's breasts pressing against his chest, his heart beating vigorously, and his desire to possess her became stronger and stronger.

He lowered his head to shun Mulan's back and began to show his ultimate goal of the night with a slightly impatient voice: "Mulan, are you ready?"

Mulan was stunned for a moment, and then shyly said, "Shang, I am okay."

The robe nestles up to her soft body and outlines an elegant and delicate curve. Shang gently pulls down Mulan's loose belt around her waist and slowly takes off her clothes. Mulan can't help but close her eyes and blush on her face. Shang looks at his wife standing in front of him naked and carefully holds Mulan to the wedding bed.

Mulan sat on the bed and watched Shang take off his thin clothes, revealing his solid chest, fluent waistline and long legs. At the moment when he saw his beautiful lines, Mulan was stunned.  
He is so handsome.  
Straight nose, delicate chin, as if polished by the best stonecutter of exquisite and perfect outline……

Shang gets closer and closer to her, and Mulan reacts from her instant intoxication. He knelt down in front of her, holding Mulan's left cheek in his right hand and gently caressing her with his thumb: "Mulan, you are so beautiful."

The moment he met her, a sense of electric shock spread all over his body. Mulan rushed forward, hugged her husband and gave him a warm kiss. The sweet fragrance of her lips made his body hot. Shang also embraces her and slowly presses Mulan to lie down on the bed while kissing. His hand fumbles awkwardly on her.

After the kiss, Shang put his hand on Mulan's breasts. On the snowy mountain, he was shocked by the military doctors and went into her tent. She saw him coming and sat up with her injured body. The first thing that came into his eyes was the chest wrapped in cloth strips. She immediately noticed the abnormality and quickly covered it with sheets

"In the future, you don't need to restrain them any more. You don't need to dress like a man." Shang licked the plump surface of her breast. Mulan's cheeks turned red and a string of groans overflowed from her throat. "We'll fight together, Mulan. I'll introduce you to my new comrades in army. You're the general that no woman can match. You're also my wife." He gently sucks on her nipples and soothes his between gasps.  
Mulan was still groaning. Her hand, slightly rough because of the cocoon knot, stroked Shang's back from his back neck to his muscular back: "That outstanding martial arts general is my husband..." The desire in her body has been ignited.

Shang suddenly raised his head, held Mulan's cheek in both hands, pressed the kiss on his wife's lips, and then began to kiss her skin. Mulan's rapid breathing stimulated the fire in his chest to burn more vigorously. Her fingers clung to his back, but there was no pain. Shang feverishly licked Mulan's normally covered positions, but he frowned as he saw the long scar on her belly.  
The avalanche caused by a shell is a thing that they can't forget: The trajectory of the shell in the air, the deafening roar of the mountain, the snow pouring in like a flood, the Hun army sparing no effort to flee, the scream, the curse……

And the little figure who took the last shell.  
At that time, her name was Ping.

And the sword, polished by hatred, that went through her belly.

The sharp scar in front of his eyes brought him back to reality. He stroked the scar on Mulan's abdomen, touched her forehead again, and whispered to her, "I'm so sorry, I left you alone in the mountains after I learned that you are a woman."

Mulan's eyes were slightly closed and widened: "Why do you mention this all of a sudden?"

"There is such a long scar on your stomach..." Shang lowered his eyes, "You saved me from the avalanche, bue I almost executed you in public..."

"Don't you hate me?" A faint light flashed through the corners of his eyes.

Mulan rubbed Shang's cheek and whispered: "I don't know what the reason is. At that time, I couldn't harden my heart to hate you, and so did I on the way to Qui Gong..."

Shang kisses her and holds Mulan closer. He rolled to the right in bed and lay down, pressing Mulan against him. "Come on." He scratched his wife's nose with his finger.  
Mulan imitates a series of actions he just made. They are young boy and girl who have sex for the first time. Their actions are neither fluent nor coherent, but they can't quench their desire for each other. She touched Shang's tight muscles, repressed her pounding heart, and focused on licking and kissing him. Shang gasped and stroked Mulan's hair and bare back. Her caress seemed to have a kind of magic, which made his heart tremble. He could feel his penis congest and expand under the friction of their thigh roots, and it soon reached Mulan's thighs. Mulan was already horny. Her warm part was soaked with thick liquids and ran down her inner thighs to Shang's thighs.  
"Shang, I..." Her face was as red as a ripe tomato. Before her words were heard, Shang sat up from the bed, held Mulan tightly in his arms, and whispered a warm and sweet breath in her ear: "Could we do that now?"

Mulan nodded and gave him several kisses on the face, letting his heavy male body oppress her. Their skin was burning hot and lustful. Shang opened his legs, and the already erectile penis rubbed Mulan's inner thigh. Its tip was covered with the liquid from her wet warm part, and the swelling became more severe. Mulan gasped and groaned. She didn't know whether it was pleasure or fear. There was more liquid flowed out from her private part.

"Mulan, I'll be gentle."  
Mulan responded with a deep breath to his voice. Shang adjusted his position on her body until the tip of his sexual organ reached Mulan's private part. He took a deep breath and slowly thrust it in. Her vagina was warm and moist, tightly wrapped around his penis, which immediately aroused a pleasure of electric current all over their bodies.

The severe pain made her take a breath. Mulan's hymen has broken, and his penis must be stained with blood, if she can see it.  
Shang rubbed the tip of Mulan's nose and thrust again. Mulan hugged him, panting and groaning. Her twisted eyebrows relaxed gradually because of the pain. She raised her legs and rolled Shang's waist: “More!” Shang responded to her with a kiss, increasing the force of insertion, her wet part has mucus lubrication, so that he was fascinated. He became more and more horny, and the movement of insertion became more and more strong. Mulan's groan gradually turned into loud scream, and the vaginal discharge flowed out of her wet heat , wetting the sheets under her body.  
All of a sudden, Shang gasped for breath, forced to stick out toward Mulan, and ejected his semen into Mulan's body.

They sat side by side on the bed, cuddling and kissing. There is a red blood stain on the sheet under Mulan's body. There was sticky white liquid on the sheets and between her thighs. She has changed from a girl to a woman.

"I'll call you wife from now on." Li Shang fondles his wife's hair while Mulan gently leans her head on her husband's shoulder. After this process, they form a spousal relationship. Before the candle in the bedroom was burnt out, the happy couple slipped into the new quilt, hugged each other and soon fell asleep.


	6. Approaching danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have something to do these days. This chapter has been written for several days. My first language is not English. You are welcome to criticize and correct the mistakes in the English version. Happy New Year's day, happy reading.  
> 这几天好多事要忙，写了好几天才写完。第一语言并非英语，才疏学浅，欢迎批评指正。祝阅读愉快。

Time is like the water flowing in the garden. It seems to be gentle and slow. In the twinkling of an eye, it will flash for several months. Shang and Mulan stay at Fa's home and live with Mulan's family. During the day, they consolidate and strengthen their fighting skills together, or deal with farming in the fields together. Sometimes in the evening, Fa Zhou walks by the moonlight in the yard with his crutch and asks his daughter and son-in-law to have a drink with him; sometimes they study military studies with oil lamps; sometimes Mulan follows Fa Li and Grandma Fa to sew new clothes in the room and mend the worn holes of old clothes and the open corners and trouser legs. Mulan laughs at Shang's clothes for wearing so fast It's like eating clothes. And Shang joked with Mulan. She is wearing his coat and sitting next to the oil lamp. He has discovered the secret of mending her trouser legs while soaking her feet.

After marriage, Mulan still tied the bag full of feed to Little brother's body in the morning to feed the chickens. She still woke up every morning in the crow of the rooster standing on the wall . She watched Shang and Mushu become familiar day by day, and watched Cri-kee hopping around in Shang's palm. Different from her life before marriage, when she sleeps at night, one side of her body is against the wall, while her husband sleeps on the other side to ensure that she will not fall out of bed in her sleep. Mulan spent more time in front of the loom than before, because she don't know when, she and Shang will receive another imperial edict from the emperor, ordering them to go to the battlefield. Mulan needs to sew enough new clothes for herself and her husband before leaving home, so that they can be changed when they are away from home. Shang likes to watch his wife's dexterous fingers go upstream of the material. He gently holds Mulan's hand to his lips and blows at her pricked fingers. Mulan is getting used to the breathing sound of Shang holding her and sleeping beside her at night. Shang is also used to the chirping of Cri-kee and the sound of the loom when he walks into the room.  
For a long time, they have been convinced that they are the happiest people in the world. This simple and happy life continued until the day when the messenger from the capital sent the imperial edict.

The tall horse with snow-white body ran into the courtyard. The man on the horse was wearing iron armor, and a cluster of red tassels on the helmet was particularly eye-catching. He bent down and handed the two scrolls to Fa Mulan and Li Shang. They all know the emissary, and his visit often represents an urgent military situation.

"General Li, general Fa, the emperor has an imperial edict for you."

The moment they opened the scroll, they screamed at the same time.

Li Shang and Fa Mulan walked into the palace on the stone steps in front of the door. From a distance, they saw the emperor standing up from the throne.Chi-fu was next to him with a copywriter in his left hand and a writing brush in his right hand. When he saw that the visitors were them, his eyes immediately looked contemptuous. Had it not been for the emperor's face, Shang would have glared at him.

"Shan Yu was not dead. The Huns are ready to make a comeback." The emperor said, motioning them to look at the map in front of them, "the spies brought back the news. This time, the Hun army was bigger and more fierce."  
"Sir, please allow us to lead a heavy army to fight against the Huns..." As soon as Shang raised his head, his words were interrupted by the emperor.  
"No, General Li, this time is much more difficult than last time." The emperor's tone was serious and formal, and he said something to their horror, "the Huns are approaching the border with amazing speed, and our army is not enough to resist their attack. That's why I summon you urgently. I hope you two can shoulder the task of training new recruits. I have made arrangements at the battlefield . After the training is completed, you will immediately lead the army to the battlefield for support. Chi-Fu. "

"I'm here." There was a look of flattery in Chi-Fu’s blessing eyes , he still standing beside the emperor. He bowed deeply, as if his loyalty could be shown to all the people in the palace at this moment.

"You are responsible for supervising the training of new recruits. General Li, general Fa, you must cherish time like gold. The Huns will not give us any chance. " The tone of the emperor has become official.

"Yes, sir."

Shang's and Mulan's voices overlapped with the response of Chi-Fu, Mulan and Shang both developed a kind of discomfort like an insect crawling over their skin.

Walking out of the palace, Mulan turned to her husband and said, "It's time for us to pack up tonight and get ready to go."

Shang nodded: "Tomorrow morning we'll leave after breakfast."  
When they got home, just as they packed the necessary things for the expedition, a red light flashed in front of them.  
"Mushu?" Mulan's folding hand stopped.  
With his two claws across his waist and flapping his bright scaly tail, Mushu stood beside the new clothes that Mulan had sewn before, which had not yet been packed into their luggage: "The ancestors asked me to come. They let me to accompany you to the battlefield. I’m the patron saint of the two families. Cri-kee will come too. "

Mulan affectionately patted him on the head, and Shang gave him a friendly smile: "Welcome."

The next morning, Mulan and Shang put on their armor and took their horses out of the stable to bid farewell to Fa Zhou, Fa Li and Grandma Fa.

"Take the cricket and it will keep you safe." Grandma Fa stuffed Mulan with Cri-kee's cage.

"You must pay attention to safety on the road. If there are bandits on the way, you'd better take a detour to avoid them, rather than take risks to rush through them. Don't rush to the barracks too late for the sake of getting there early. It will be dangerous at night... " .Fa Li kept telling them.

Both of them nodded and said yes.  
Fa Zhou stepped forward, put the crutch on his left leg and put his hands on Mulan's and Shang's shoulders.

"Feel the necklace around your neck." Fa Zhou watched his daughter and son-in-law reach out and touch the two pendants named Yin and Yang, with his brows locked, "You two should always remember their meaning, cooperate with each other and complement each other. Mulan, intelligence is your advantage. No matter what happens, you have to keep calm to get out of danger. Shang,my son, don't act impulsively. I'm very worried about you. This time the Huns will be more ferocious than last time. You must not take chances. The balance of luck can't always tilt to our side. "

"War is not an exercise. If you don't even have the ability to protect yourselves, it is very likely that you will never come back."

Fa Zhou's hand tightened on their shoulders, and then patted on their shoulders: "Go,my children, I wish you two a safe return."

Mulan and Shang were a little stunned, then nodded vigorously, and their eyes twinkled with bright light. They stepped on the horse. Shang motioned to Fa Zhou,Fa Li and Grandma Fa not to send them out of the village. Mulan ride Khan and ran out of the yard without looking back. When her husband caught up with her, she raised her hand and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Mulan's voice has choked: "I don't want them to see me cry."

The scenery on both sides quickly receded, and their familiar village soon became a strange sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ancient Chinese had many things to do at night, such as drinking wine, composing poems, playing chess, drinking tea, repairing farm tools, and so on. Many poets express their thoughts or feelings for their lovers in their poems written at night. Women mend their clothes at night.
> 
> When I write about Mulan's foot soaking, I suddenly think of one thing. Foot binding rose in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). In the era of Mulan, women didn't bind their feet  
> " Shan Yu" is the title of Huns’ leader, which means "son of heaven", not a person's name.  
>  “单于”是匈奴首领的头衔，意为“天之子”，不是人名。
> 
> In the next chapter, they will meet Yao, Ling and Chien Po again, and there will be a new character.


	7. Partner or trouble-maker?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During this period of time, my house was decorated on a large scale. We couldn't live in the house for many days. And I couldn't use computers. We changed new furniture and we didn't stay at home for several days because we had to open windows to release harmful gases. I had a hard time finishing this chapter and sending it out.

They arrived at the barracks earlier than ordinary soldiers. When Mulan took out the necessities one by one, Shang's voice rang behind her: "We live in this tent."

"Ah I almost forgot. " She was stunned for a moment, and then reflected that her life in the military camp would be different from before.

The other soldiers also came one after another. Mulan saw Ling, Yao and Chien Po with their luggage on their backs. The three of them obviously saw her and Shang, and waved to them from a distance.

Chien Po still held up several of his comrades in arms like he did at the beginning: "I'm so happy to see you again!"

Ling laughed and made a sign to his comrades in arms to get closer to each other: "This time, we also need to refuel together!"

"I'm also very happy to train with you and go to the battlefield together..." Yao's surprise of seeing his good friend again after a long separation suddenly disappeared like magic. He glanced forward in disgust. Chi-Fu was standing there with pride, looking at the soldiers in the barracks with a mean eye. It was like a slave owner at home looking at the humble maidservant, "But we also have to accompany that disgusting man!"

Almost at the same time, they looked at the place where Yao's eyes were pointing, and then they all laughed. Mulan lowered her voice and put her index finger to her mouth: "Keep it down, don't be heard by him."

In fact, even if Mulan didn't remind Yao, Chi-Fu couldn't hear what they were saying. The new recruits seemed to be holding a mass meeting. In the noisy waves, they sometimes mixed with a few dialects that they did not understand, and sometimes several harsh words were heard in Mulan and Shang. There was a young soldier with a smooth face like an egg and no wrinkles. He coughed loudly and spat heavily on the ground. Then he stretched out his right foot and ran over it. Step by step, he went to greet others.  
"How disgusting!” The expression on Mulan's face told her disgust without reservation.

Shang shook his head helplessly and sighed.

The line of recruits and retired sergeants was irregular. From time to time there was a commotion in the crowd, and several people swayed around with their hands behind them. Li shang and Fa Mulan went to the front together. Before they asked the soldiers to assemble, they specially checked whether their armor was neatly worn. "Soldiers.” Shang ordered them to be quiet, "Pay attention to discipline in my barracks." When the noise in the crowd dissipated, he began to talk about the training content, duration, daily work and rest time and the rules that soldiers must abide by in the barracks.

"I'm General Li Shang." After introducing his name, Shang looked at his wife standing next to him with pride and appreciation, "This is General Fa Mulan, my wife as well. She and I will be responsible for your training and lead you to the battlefield after the training.”

"I've heard of her! That's the one... " Someone can't wait to cut in. The people around him winked and tugged at the corner of his coat. He was embarrassed to swallow what he had not finished.

Shang pursed his lips and said, "Where did I just talk about? By the way, your training items include weight bearing, archery, formation formation…… Who's interrupting when I'm talking? "

His voice was as sharp as a sword suddenly pulled out, and he gave a serious look in the direction of the whispers in the crowd. After the soldiers were quiet, he continued to speak.

"The training assembly should be quick and quiet every day. General Fa and I will take the lead and arrive at the training ground a little ahead of time to wait for you. Military grain is supplied regularly every day…… You or I? " Shang lowered the scroll to his chest. His sharp eyes swept over the gathered soldiers and finally fell on a strong tall soldier. The tone, timbre and direction of the voice that interrupted his speech were consistent with this accident. However, he didn't want to pull the recruit out of the team. He just gouged out his eyes in anger and was caught up again interruptions.

"The aisle between tents is a public area. Please don't stack personal belongings at will. It were easy to be damaged and will hinder others to walk..." Shang looked at the two lines left on the scroll. He was just about to tell the soldiers that the meeting was over, and the training started tomorrow. The same voice as the previous two came out again: "Who's going to throw anything away? Just dip it in soy sauce and eat it!"

Fa Mulan, standing next to Shang, clearly heard the sound of the paper clenched in his hand. He didn't want to restrain his temper that an active volcano might erupt at any time. He closed the scroll and pointed to the team with it: "The third row, the second on the left, out of line!"

Chi-Fu took two steps forward . His height is not as high as the recruit who was called out of the team, but his momentum is like a beast that drives the prey to the end and is ready to kill: "Is it your turn to interrupt? Why are you so casual? Why are you so unruly? "  
Mulan glanced at Chi-Fu and tried to persuade him to stop talking about it, but the latter didn't know whether he didn't see her or didn't want to talk to her at all. She still looked at the young man who came out of the crowd and became the focus of attention.

He looks about the same age as Shang, and he is about the same height. There are different sizes of acne marks on his face, and his black pupils are childish. His coarse cloth clothes and trousers were washed very clean. There was no open line or hole patch. His thick male lines could be seen under his clothes.

As he stepped forward, there were a few snickers in the line.

"What's your name?" The lines of Shang's face tightened sharply.  
The guy who was still in high spirits just now seemed to fall into the ice cellar in the blink of an eye, and the joy between his eyes disappeared without a trace. Because his excited and shining eyes also faded, his slightly thick lips opened and closed several times, and then a string of gossamer murmurs came out of his throat intermittently: "Tan……Tan Wangyou. "

"Speak up, I can't hear you clearly."

"Tan Wangyou.( tán wàng yōu)"

On the first day when the recruits came to report for duty, Tan Wangyou left a deep impression on the generals and his comrades in a dishonorable way.

It's Mulan's idea to hold a party, which will not only ease the homesickness and anxiety of the recruits who leave home for the first time, but also help the soldiers from different regions to get familiar with each other and deepen their impression of each other. Even if this group of recruits chatting and wrangling one by one, they are better than the other. All of them gathered in a circle to introduce themselves one by one. They immediately became silly. Just look at each other like they are playing crikets, but no one took the initiative to break the deadlock. Mulan was worried. The corner of her clothes was sweating in her palm. She was about to stand up and open her head. Ling, who was sitting cross legged, winked at her and stood up and walked to the center of the circle.

"Hi, everyone, let's play a game first, OK?" Ling tried to adjust his tone to make it sound cheerful. He held the hook he had borrowed from other soldiers in his hand. "Have you ever heard of hidden hook? It is to divide the people into two groups, the puppet is hostile, the odd number requires the person to choose a team to attach, and a group of people need to secretly hold the small hook in one of the people's hands during the game, and the other party can guess which person's hand the hook is in... "

"Wow." Chien Po's mouth turned into a small O shape because of surprise.  
They often listen to Ling's jokes, play tricks, and make fun of him. He is very good at it. A string of hearty laughter burst out in the originally silent crowd, and some people began to applaud. The more the participants played, the more happy they were. Yao was looking at Ling's two fists and guessing which hand the hook was in. One hand stretched out from behind, grabbed one of Ling's shoe and try to took it off without any hesitation. There were several brave recruits surrounding the skinny game organizer and hugged him together , in the crowd burst out of cheers and noise, he was lifted from the ground to the air.  
"Well, let's call it a day." Shang looked up at the position of the moon and motioned the soldiers to go back to their tents and go to bed. "Soldiers, all go back and have a rest early. Tomorrow our training will officially begin."

The soldiers reluctantly went to the direction of the tent, along the way also kept repeating the game's interesting passages, Tan Wangyou was the happiest one. Shang and Mulan were walking side by side. When they were almost done, they saw Yao and Chien Po stop and look back at Ling, who was jumping forward with one foot. He was holding the shoe which had taken off. Ling held Chien Po's left arm and screwed his eyebrows to put his shoe back on his feet.

"I didn't expect you to have it." Mulan raised an eyebrow to Ling admiringly, but he didn't accept it. On the contrary, he was so angry that his nose was almost crooked: "I made a fool of myself on purpose! What an embarrassing atmosphere! Take off my shoe and what are they doing, like a fool! "

Ling's words were uttered, and several people on the scene sighed helplessly. It was not easy to train the mob to be a powerful army against the Huns. Besides, the nomads had strict discipline and could raise falcons who could be masters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wàng means forget, yōu means sad，Wangyou means to forget worry and live without sad. Tan is the surname of Wangyou.  
> 昙忘忧( tán wàng yōu)


	8. Wangyou

The recruits recruited from all over China have different qualifications, different looks and different ages. Standing in the crowd, there are someone half head higher than others, someone short to the chest of others, someone with a face full of scum, yellow hair and an accent they can't understand. But the most impressive one is Tan Wangyou.

As the name suggests, Wangyou seems to have never known what worries are. Whether it's before training, during meals, after a break or going back to bed in the tent, it's not without his distinctive laughter. Even if he doesn't appear in their sight, he doesn't have to turn his head to know who the sound comes from. As long as he entered the team, even if the atmosphere in the crowd was quiet enough to drip water, it was like being thrown into a blockbuster bomb, and the soldiers opened their chatterbox one after another and kept talking.

Wangyou is strong and eats naturally. He can eat two bowls of millet porridge at least after a meal. After drinking, he puts down the bowl and wipes off the porridge juice with the back of his hand or sleeve. Sometimes he burps loudly without covering his mouth. Mulan or Shang just frown and feel embarrassed to scold him face to face. Chi-Fu just don't care these, bang a percussion bowl, open mouth scold: "Public place, pay attention to civilization!"

In his eyes, people are divided into two kinds, one is to be flattered by him, the other is to be bullied by him. Among the people Mulan knew, except that the emperor regarded him as a confidant, there was no disgust on his face when he mentioned Chi-Fu. Because of the emperor's face, Shang had to try his best to avoid confrontation with him. Ordinary soldiers hated and feared him. But it's unfair to put all the responsibility on Chi-Fu this time. One day, Mulan just went back to the tent, and Mushu came out of the gap of her clothes: "What is that thing!He is too out-going !”Cri-kee in the tent on the case of a vigorous jump, squeak squeak loud and urgent, Mushu translation said that Cri-kee also have opinions on Wangyou.  
No wonder everyone is dissatisfied with him. In this mess, Tan Wangyou can be called the best. Every time on the way from the tent to the training ground, if he does not accompany others, he will surely go to the wrong place and be late. During the weapon drill, Chi-Fu called Shang to the side and said that he had something to tell him. Without staring at the team for a while, the crowd became restless. "Today I'll show you a long lost stunt..." The voice is also a kind of image, he can know it's Wangyou and trying to attract the attention of other soldiers. When practicing the formation, Shang had to put those soldiers who had a good relationship with Wangyou away from the latter. If he let them get together, the team would explode immediately. During the load-bearing training, he was not idle for a moment and told jokes to make people around him laugh , but also want to pull out a hand to make a funny move, Mulan can't bear it, straight face ultimatum warning: " If you make a fuss again, I'll take you out to practice alone."

It's true that Wangyou has been taken out of the team to practice alone.

It's not only that Wangyou don't take training seriously, but also that he don't have good health habits. Once Mulan didn't finish half a bowl of porridge, and her strong sense of vomiting was magnified by her nerves. After returning to the tent for a rest, she couldn't pick up her appetite to eat the dried meat that her mother had stuffed in their luggage before leaving home.

"When I went to Tan Wangyou's side, I smelled the smell of his feet." Mulan stroked her chest with one hand. "On the way back, as soon as he opened the door of the tent, I felt the foot odor coming out of it pierced my heart."

Shang awkwardly made a gesture of supporting his forehead: "It's the first time I've met such a person. Every time I criticize him, his attitude is very good, but in the end, the same mistake should be made again. I can't hit him. But he won't listen to me

Mushu walked around the desk and shared with them what he had seen and heard in recent days: "But I heard that the soldiers chatted in private. I heard that Tan Wangyou's wife was very married to him."

Cri-kee chirped, and Mushu looked down at it: "How ugly is she? I haven't seen her, and I don't know. " He crossed his waist and continued: "Tan Wangyou's wife is a girl of the Zhu family. Her father has read all his life and has never been in an official position, but he is also a man with a little ink in his stomach. He named his daughter Zhu Yu( zhù yú), who is Tan's wife. "

"Wangyou said Zhu Yu was a good wife. She can wash well and cook well. They have a good relationship. They work in the fields during the day, repair farm tools and mend their clothes at night. Although they are not rich, they live a simple and contented life, and food and clothing are not a problem. "

Mushu kept talking, not noticing the envy of Shang and Mulan.

"Zhu Yu. Zhu Yu.” Shang repeated the symbol in his mouth, "What a beautiful name. A father who wished his daughter’s live in a rich life. " Then he said: "But what does this have to do with training new recruits? If Tan Wangyou don't take training seriously, he can't be punished less."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.Millet was the main military grain in ancient China, because millet had no high demand for land and could be widely planted. Moreover, millet was more storable than rice. The way to eat millet is to cook a large pot of porridge mixed with wild vegetables, wild fruits, coarse cereals, dried meat and other food for soldiers. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, pancake began to be used as military food.  
>  中国古代的主要军粮是小米，因为小米对土地的要求不高，可以广泛种植，而且小米比大米更耐储存。食用方式是把小米混杂着野菜、野果、杂粮、肉干等食物煮一大锅粥分给士兵吃。唐宋时期饼子开始作为军粮。  
>  2.Zhu is one of the Chinese surnames. In the text, Zhu also means blessing, Yu means surplus, Zhu Yu means to hope that their child live a healthy and prosperous life.  
>  祝余( zhù yú)  
>  3.In the era of Mulan's life, the government selected officials through the nine grade system, which easily led to the monopoly of official positions by aristocratic families.  
>  木兰生活的时代政府通过九品中正制选拔官吏，易导致官位被世家大族垄断。  
>  4.Mulan's nausea is not just the smell of Wangyou’s feet.


	9. Retrograde in a rainy night

"If you are really uncomfortable, go back to the tent and have a rest. Do you need me to call the doctor?" Shang walked into the group and asked the soldier, who was pursing his lips because of stomach discomfort and was sweating on his forehead. He nodded and said thank you, sir. He turned and walked out of the group towards his tent.

"Lean over here and fill in the blanks." Mulan waved her left arm to the soldiers to adjust the formation, and told them, "Recently, there are people with stomachache in the barracks, we all should pay attention to food safety, and then remember not to use dirty hands to touch food when eating."

Mushu and Cri-kee are watching the training in the corner where the soldiers can't see. The little red dragon turns his head and looks at Cri-kee: "It seems that he is still training with illness today. Last night I saw him rubbing his stomach and saying that he has a stomachache."

It has been some time since the recruits came to the barracks. Although their training experience is still shallow, Li Shang and Fa Mulan are trying to achieve the best results. Mulan doesn't criticize any soldiers easily. She teases that when Shang scolded her, she felt very helpless. She didn't want to repeat the same thing to others. Shang patiently teach them everything he could. When he met a guy who was lazy and didn't pay attention to his study, or who didn't train seriously, he used the end of his wood stick to knock on the unimportant part of the lazy soidier to show his vigilance.

"Some people are really thick skinned. They don't mind if I punish them lightly, but I am afraid of hurting their muscles and bones when I punish heavily." Shang sighed and shook his head. "I think they're going to be bored just to see me. Two days ago, I heard someone calling me by name and surname in private."

Mulan smiles and pats him on the shoulder. Both he and she have touched the swords of Huns just like danced on the deadly black sickle. Her silent consolation also had the ability to convey her heart - she knew that he poked or knocked the thickest muscles of their bodies with a wood stick to urge them to train seriously; The Huns' weapons touched their bodies to make them die.  
In addition to being responsible for the training of soldiers, they also take charge of some trivial matters. For a moment, tsomeone’s bow is not strong, and for a moment, whose sword is going to be broken. Shang and Mulan have to find a good dagger for this one and a strong bow for that one. Mulan's hand with cocoon has a layer of dry skin like fine scales. Shang teases her hand as a file. If she grabs his hand again, she will touch off a layer of skin for him. Mulan retorts mischievously that he is not allowed to kiss her until the dead skin on his dry and cracked lips is completely removed. She is afraid that the cheek or lips that she has been kissed by him will be scratched and bleeding.

Shang allowed himself to slide with his back against the stone until the river passed his chest and only the part above his shoulder was still exposed above the water. He scrubbed his right arm with his left hand, his thoughts rippling with the waves beside him. They recently taught the soldiers a close combat skill, and he and Mulan urged them to practice it as soon as possible. These soldiers have different qualifications, different savvy and different levels. Some of them can only learn several movements after training for several days, while others can master them after training for two or three times. On the way back to the tent after today's training, Mulan was still telling him that the more difficult some movements were, the faster they were.  
This afternoon, he decided to take a bath by the river in his spare time. Mulan didn't follow. She was in the camp, and he was the only one who came to the river. After training, it is not as convenient for soldiers to take a bath as at home. After a long time, they will smell of sweat.

When it comes to personal hygiene, Mulan told him yesterday that when she passed a tent whose tent door had been opened, she looked inside and looked like a pig's nest.

By the way, there is a nuisance named Tan Wangyou……

Originally, he wanted to take a bath to relieve his tense nerves. As a result, he had a splitting headache at the thought of these. In the distance, the clouds on the horizon engulfed the last touch of sunlight left by the sun before it disappeared, and a piece of desolation about to come. Shang stood up and waded to the bank from the depth of the river. His washed hair was wet on his bare shoulder. He picked up a handful of water and finally washed his face. He reached for the folded clothes on a stone on the bank. Go back to the barracks before it rains.  
When Shang returned to the camp, he saw that the army camp was in chaos, and the soldiers were all rushing in one direction. For a moment, he didn't understand what was going on until he saw a familiar figure running out from far to near, just like them. He immediately stopped her from asking why.

"Mulan?!" Shang held her shoulder and said, "What's the matter?"

Mulan breathed to make her breath a little more gentle. He didn't make a wrong judgment. The direction she pointed to was the way up the mountain: "Tan Wangyou went up the mountain and got lost!"

He was alarmed.Shang had no time to get angry, and he didn't have time to care that his plain clothes hadn't been changed when he took a bath. His feet were like wind. He started to run up the mountain, and the organ on the left side of his chest flopped violently.

The strong wind with big raindrops fell on the ground.

"Tan Wangyou! Where are you? "  
"Tan Wangyou! Say yes if you heard!”

One after another, the same name was called. Ling rolled his hands into a trumpet to make the sound spread further. Mulan raised her head slightly and compared the front right with her chin: “Let's split up!"

Mulan looked around at the shrubs and the dead leaves on the ground. Where did he go? There are no potholes or gullies nearby, even if he really fell in, he would not be in this area; If he met a beast, he was dragged away by the predator? There are no signs of fighting or struggling in this area. On the contrary, the ground is very flat, and there are no footprints and hairs of carnivores? It's impossible. A noisy person like Tan Wangyou can't be quiet at all unless I've lost consciousness.

However, there is no doubt that Tan Wangyou has no leisure to hide in the primeval forest and play hide and seek with everyone. Although he loves to make fun of himself, he still understands the basic human feelings.  
A sense of uncertainty came to Mulan's mind. Mulan was more and more afraid, and quickened her pace to go deep into the forest. Shang was also shouting the name of forgetting worry. The soles of his shoes sank into the mud, and the rain ran down the dense leaves, making them all wet.

They raised their legs tightly wrapped in their wet trousers, bypassed the thorny branches of the trees, and looked around as they walked forward, trying to eliminate the interference of the sound of rain hitting the ground, branches and leaves, and listening carefully to whether there was a reply from the person whose name was called.

All of a sudden, a figure broke into the sight full of trees. He stood in front of them and waved his arm. Mulan wiped the raindrops on her eyelashes. His cry went through the heavy rain curtain and hit their eardrums: "General Li! General Fa! We have found Wangyou!”  
He and she both trembled, looked at each other, and ran to the soldier who reported to them at the same time. In front of a gathering of figures, the crowd saw their commanders immediately spread to both sides. Chien Po is much taller than ordinary people. Even in the crowd, he is very conspicuous. After the soldiers around him scatter, Shang and Mulan clearly see Wangyou on Chien Po’s back. He really lost consciousness as Mulan thought, he closed his eyes tightly, his left trouser leg was stained with mud spots, his knee was stained with mud, and the arm of his coat was torn by thorny branches. Wangyou is in a coma, but he held a handful of green grass with small yellow flowers tightly in his hand. The flower cluster is somewhat similar to that of Setaria viridis. The yellow flowers, which are bustling and crowded together, gather together into a flower cluster with a little sharp at both ends and a little bulge in the middle.

"General, I can explain..."

Shang want to criticize Wangyou why he went into the mountain without considering the danger and made everyone go to the mountain to find him but he didn’t do that. A voice with guilt rang out: "It's all my fault. I said that I had a cold stomach these days to Wangyou. He said that he went to the mountain to pick Agrimonia for me. He also said that it worked very well. His cold stomach was cured with it... "  
His tone got lower and lower, and at last they couldn't hear it. In the future, Shang is still thankful that he didn’t criticize Wangyou. Fortunately, his words haven't been spoken yet. Otherwise, he will feel guilty for it for a long time. Mulan said nothing. Shang winked at her, nodded and made a fist clasping gesture: " It's a problem for everyone.Now you all can go back and go to bed early,soliders."

Mulan took over the tent door that Shang opened for her and got into the tent. As she took off her rain drenched clothes, she asked her husband, "Why do you dress like this?"  
"I went to the bath." Li Xiang replied that Mushu had already spewed out a flame from his mouth and was boiling water for them on a handful of firewood. With a crash, the tent door was opened again, and Chi-Fu came in bravely. Unlike the soldiers and the two generals, his clothes were not wet at all. One was that the rain had stopped outside long ago, and the other was that he did not take part in the search for Wangyou in the mountains. Chi-Fu made no secret of his purpose, slapped the paper on the table: "I heard that you two take those soldiers up the mountain to turn that place upside down for a stupid man?"

"Tan Wangyou wants to collect medicine for his sick comrade ." Shang's voice suddenly soared. He was already angry. Once he was provoked by Chi-Fu, it would be his outlet. "Besides, we all took the initiative to go into the mountains to find him!"

With a sarcastic look on Chi-Fu’s wrinkled face, he raised his chin and put his arms as thin as a tree branch around his chest: "General, you don't have to scare me here. I'm not here to see you guys. But I'd like to remind you two that a grain of rat excrement will spoil a pot of soup. "  
"We know very well how to go every step..." Green tendons are bouncing on Mulan's forehead. Every word is crushed and squeezed out between her teeth. But before she finishes speaking, she is interrupted by Chi-Fu. The index finger of his hand points to her nose: "Shut up! How can you interrupt? "

Chi-Fu didn't notice Shang's violent hand. He was arrogant and said to himself, " You are a girl who don't know the height of the world. Don't think the emperor has given you an official position means you can run roughshod in China! Your opportunistic trick... "

Shang sprang forward to pick up his collar. He moved quickly and raised his right hand to block the general's left hand: "What? You want to rebel? "

"Hum, you two are a perfect match. One is stupid and the other is bold." Chi-Fu pulled back his hand and walked out of the tent with a shake of his head. The cloth of his robe turned into a wrinkled flower at his ankle. "But I said that in front of you, It doesn't matter if a soldier is incompetent . But if the general is incompetent, the whole army will be useless."  
The tent door clattered like Chi-Fu was laughing at their incompetence.

Mulan angrily punched on the table, Mushu jumped on the table and stopped her: "Ignore him, he is a fool!"

As soon as Mushu's voice fell, Shang, who had been leaning on his chair with one hand leaning on his temple, stood up like a spring under his foot. He walked to the tent door with three steps at the same time before he kicked it. He didn't get rid of his breath. The foot on the tent door didn't fall back to the ground. Instead, he raised his leg and mended it.

Of course, he took the account door as a vent. At first, the training of new recruits was very hard, and the pug around the emperor always couldn't get along with them. But they can't punish Chi-fu, he can only vent his anger with the innocent tent door.  
At night, the smell of the oil lamp that has been blown out can be heard faintly. The red dragon was coiled into a circle and goes to sleep. In the silent night, Cri-kee was singing softly. Mulan's palm covers the back of her husband's hand. The knuckles of her thumb and middle finger rub against the joints of his fingers: "Shang?"

"What's the matter?" Shang turned over and put his arms around his wife, who was lying flat beside him.

"Nothing. I just feel sick in my stomach. I feel a little sick. I was so tired these days." Mulan also turned over, nestled in his chest, her forehead against his clavicle, "I'm too tired, it doesn't matter, just sleep."

I want to sleep too. I have a bad headache .

. Shang stroked his wife's back and gave Mulan a warm kiss on her forehead.


	10. Have a rest in the tent

Since Shang and other soldiers went into the mountain to look for Tan Wangyou in the heavy rain yesterday, he began to have a headache on his way down the mountain to the military camp, and a thirst like not drinking water for a long time rose in his throat. He thought it was no big deal. He would recover the next day after a sleep. Unexpectedly, it became more and more intense. When he got up this morning, he felt weak all over. His bones seemed to be made of cotton, and his headache was even worse, as if he had been thrown into a rotating stone mill. If Mulan didn't hold him fast when Shang went to change his clothes, his head would hit a bumb as big as a pigeon egg on the chair. His appetite also dropped a lot. He drank a few mouthfuls of millet porridge at breakfast and could not drink it any more. In the past, it would take him minutes to finish a bowl of porridge.

The breakfast on the day they left home was the last meal they had at home so far. Fa Zhou insisted that Mulan and Shang eat more. He was also a soldier. He said when they arrive at Wu Zhong, they can eat nothing but millet porridge. Fa Li stuffed a lot of dried meat she made in their luggage. No, this is not the time to think about it.

Today, Shang was going to take the soldiers to the river to catch the fish swimming in the water with their bare hands to practice their eyesight, arm strength and accuracy, but he lowered his voice and shook his head at Mulan: "Today, let's practice weapons in the camp. Don't let them go into the water."

Mulan nodded, and then she went to the neatly stacked sword, and told the soldiers not to fight and line up to get it. They took the weapons and scattered in all directions, found their own position and stood in the square arranged by the commanders for them.

"Today, we will continue to carry out weapons training. We should seize the time to practice. If you have any questions, you can ask me for help." Mulan orders her request to the soldiers. When they begin to repeat the movements and manners they have learned recently, she turns her head to look at Shang, who is leaning on a wooden stick with a high eyebrow. One end of the stick is forced against the ground, and the other end is held in Shang's hand. His left hand is covered on the right fist holding the stick. His proud and upright body is a little trembling, and his eyebrows are tightly frowning .  
Mulan sighed, went to her husband and whispered, "Were you had a cold last night? I think you wear so little. " With that, she reached out to touch Shang's forehead. Mulan's hand just touched Shang's forehead and drew back her hand as if it had been burned by wildfire. "You have a fever! Get to the doctor quickly!” She lowered her voice to almost reproach.

Shang slowly shook his head and narrowed his head to the direction of the soldiers being trained: "Never mind. Their training is the top priority. I'm here to watch them train." His voice was so light that only he and Mulan could hear him. He opened his mouth for a breath and continued: "Training time is limited, and the task is heavy. Don't delay." Li Shang reached out his elbow and touched Mulan's waist gently. He urged her to supervise the training. He gently raised an eyebrow to her: "Don't be so close to me, be careful to infect you."

Mulan reluctantly went to the center of the square array and carefully observed who was wrong, who was not strong enough or who was too strong. She was not at ease and turned her head from time to time to look in the direction where Shang was. This time, she was angry and distressed, angry that he was sick and refused to rest, in order to improve the quality of training, she had to carry it; Distressed that he was still standing on the training ground with a fever. Just now, Shang was still leaning on a stick to see whose movements were not up to standard. As soon as he stood up, he felt like the sky was spinning around. He barely fell down with a stick. Now he was paralyzed. He was leaning against the training pot with only one pair of eyes. He could not help but close his eyes and rest.  
One soldier's eyes moved to Shang as Fa Mulan looked aside. Imitation is an essential part of human social learning. Immediately another soldier looked in the same direction as his comrades in arms just now, followed by the third and sixth Mulan quickened her pace, went to her husband and squatted down. She raised his left arm around her left shoulder. Her right arm held him from behind and gently supported him. She slowly stood up from the ground and let his head droop on her left shoulder: "Go back, go to see the doctor."

"General!" Chien Po instinctively reaches out his hand and wants to step out of the team to help Mulan hold Shang. Several people in the team showed the same motivation as him. Mulan waved calmly: " Don't become impetuous . Thank you for your concern. I can handle it. You can train at ease,everyone. Don't be a mess.” Her words spilled from her lips. Some scattered troops stayed in the same place for a moment. The soldiers who had deviated from their original position then consciously stepped back and their weapons were raised flat again.

Mulan helped Shang into the tent. The doctor opened the tent door and came in. Mulan helped her husband lie flat on the bed and opened the quilt folded in the morning to cover him. Before her hand was taken out of the quilt on his shoulder, his much larger hand held her wrist. She was slightly stunned. Shang must have something to say to her. Shang's mouth moved and his voice was hoarse: "Don't take them to the river to practice. The water is a little deep, and the mud at the bottom of the river is slippery. If someone has an accident, I can't save him like this... " Before he finished, Mulan took out her hand and touched his hot forehead: "You take medicine on time. It's important to be healthy."

She also wanted to put her hand under his pillow to see if its height was just right. Shang's palm gently pushed Mulan to the direction of the tent exit: "Honey, go and supervise their training. Don't worry about me."  
"Alas." Mulan sighed after all, looked back at Shang, went to the tent door and opened the tent door.  
To her surprise, the soldiers performed very well today. They even practiced more seriously than they did when she and Shang were present. They didn't sneak off or be lazy. Mulan is also quite straightforward to disband the soldiers to rest on time. The only thing that makes her a little unhappy is that the word "rest" just came out of her mouth. The soldier named Ye Qing smeared oil on the soles of his feet and drilled into the woods near the camp. If Yao didn't explain that Ye Qing has been suffering from diarrhea recently, maybe she would give him a few words when he comes back, Mulan thinks.

Ye Qing was back. He knew that when the general announced dissolution, he ran away in a hurry, which was against the military regulations. He walked to Mulan with a look of guilt: "It's been a few days since I had diarrhea. It's not intentional that he just insulted the military style and discipline. I am so sorry..."

Mulan smiles and shrugs: "Never mind. It's you. Take care of yourself in the near future. If you have any more discomfort, you can report to me and to relieve yourself . " With that, Mulan turned to look at the location of Chi-Fu. At the moment, he didn't look in this direction. She added: "I'll tell General Li that before you recover completely, he and I will grant you leave. Neither of us will complain to Chi-Fu."

Ye Qing immediately bows to Mulan, and Mulan raises the volume slightly, so that the soldiers around can also hear clearly: "When you go to the woods for a rest, you'd better go together, especially Tan Wangyou; Otherwise, you're easy to get lost."

There was a burst of laughter in the crowd, and Wangyou slapped his thigh awkwardly: "General, you can't say that!" A few soldiers gathered around to watch the scene, and several people who were far away came to the scene.

"It's all here." Mulan looked around at the soldiers around her, "Just in time, I have something to say. From the day of report to now, if General Li made any radical comments on you? "

"No. The day after I came to the camp, I broke my hand. General Li called the doctor for me.” A soldier answered, shaking his head.

"Once I was injured in training. That night, General Li came to my tent to check if I applied herb on the wound according to his instructions." Another soldier answered.

"That day, I heard General Li tell Chi-Fu not to criticize me all the time."  
"That day, General Li came into the mountain to look for me in the heavy rain, and he poured himself sick!" Wangyou, as if for fear that Mulan will ignore him.

Seeing that there were going to be waves again and again, Mulan raised her hand and made a "stop" gesture: "OK, OK, let's talk about it first. There is one thing I want to say to you: Our training will be over in less than a month, then we will face the Huns. Now I'm not going to scare you to improve efficiency. I hope everyone here is ready to go to the battlefield. The danger of the battlefield is hard to predict, so we must do our best. General Li and I will stick with you and meet the difficulties together. He used to be my comrade in army. I know him well. Although sometimes he is stubborn, he will never do anything wicked . Today, he wanted to organize everyone to go to the riverside for training. Later, he changed to weapon training because he was worried that he would not be in good condition. If someone had an accident, he would not be able to rescue him in time. General Li is very feverish, and I hope you can understand... "

Chi-Fu’s voice interrupted Mulan untimely: "It's time to continue training!"

The soldiers gathered around Mulan scattered and returned to their own positions. Several of them even gave her a glance. Their eyes were no longer lazy, rebellious or idle. Their eyes were burning with strong fighting spirit and firmness.

The next training is also quite smooth. There is no need to stare at or even yell like the first time. It seems that in half a day, the mucus between each person's bones is rapidly strengthened.

When Mulan returned to the tent, Shang was awake. She came forward and handed him the bowl in her hand. A bowl full of millet porridge was steaming hot. Her first sentence was to ask him how he felt.  
Shang supported himself with both hands, sat up from the bed, looked at his wife, reached for the bowl and said, "I'm much better now. I've just finished taking the decoction. By the way, how are they doing? "

"They did very good. The discipline is better than when we were both here. The porridge is hot, I'll turn over the bag. There's dried meat in it. You can eat it with porridge. " Mulan lowered her head to tidy up, then went to the chair and began to search for the luggage they had brought. Shang quickly said no. Mulan turned and sat next to him, watching him swallow the millet porridge one by one.

"Is it true?" Shang took the bowl away from his lips.

Mulan nodded with a smile: "It's true. Everyone has made great progress."

Surprise and gratification, like spring water under the ice in early spring, flowed on his cheek. Shang threw his wife into his arms, gave her a kiss on her face, and stroked her hair excitedly: "I'm so happy to hear that!" Mulan hugged him happily and put her head on her husband's shoulder.

A moment later, she broke free from his arms: "Finish the porridge while it's hot. It seems that your appetite has recovered very well. I have no appetite for anything during this period of time. " Mulan bowed her head, touched her slightly raised abdomen, and sighed with a bulging mouth: "But after I went back to the barracks, I got fat, and my stomach grew fat!"  
"It's a good thing to be a little fat. It's too thin to be strong on the battlefield!" Shang joked.

"Don't talk when your mouth is full of food!" Mushu sprang up to Shang's leg covered with quilt, holding his arm as if he would be reprimanded in the next second.

They couldn't help laughing.

**Author's Note:**

> I am busy with the homework of elective courses and the examination of compulsory courses these days, and I have no time to update and revise the articles until now. Excuse me.  
> 这段时间在忙选修课的作业和必修课的考试，更新缓慢，见谅。


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